Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:19
Size: 104,5 MB
Art: Front
(4:01) 1. Wonder in Your Eyes
(2:55) 2. Kyrie Eleison
(4:21) 3. This Year Is Different
(3:51) 4. Last Christmas
(5:29) 5. Calling All Angels
(3:35) 6. May the Night Be Gentle
(3:31) 7. Fairytale of New York
(4:12) 8. Mary's Child
(2:30) 9. Angels Never Sleep
(2:35) 10. December Nights
(4:29) 11. In the Bleak Midwinter
(3:43) 12. Silent Night
2020: The new normal consists of distance and hygiene rules, contact restrictions as well as postponed and canceled concerts. But in these uncertain times there are still constants. The fact that the musical pre-Christmas season is now slowly approaching was as certain as the amen in church. Fortunately, you ca n't go wrong with Rebekka Bakken's "Winter Nights" if you want to come to your senses during the next lockdown. The record not only offers cover versions of various Christmas classics, but also seven tracks from the native of Oslo. She also arranged all the pieces. Just jazz , it doesn't even appear on the album, which is not surprising. The now 50-year-old had always emphasized that she does not see herself as a jazz singer. The opening original composition " Wonder In Your Eyes " features mostly timid piano and acoustic guitar sounds, over which Bakken puts her emotional, multi-octave voice. At the end, background choirs join in, which ensure a soulful conclusion. In the reinterpretation of Ingvar Hovland's " Kyrie Eleison " you can hear a little unobtrusive use of steel guitars here and there, so that the angelic vocals don't miss their creepy effect.
The Bakken piece " This Year Is Different " finally invites you to the saloon with its casual string sounds and economical piano swabs. But the lyrics are not as lively as the music. Ahead of its release, the Scandinavian said: " 'This Year Is Different' is a song about how to spend Christmas for the first time after a loss. The anticipation itself to see someone's absence for Christmas can be so painful. I wrote this song after my father passed away, but with an eye on those who, like me, did not have the advantage of having the experience and maturity to face this challenge. " She then underlines the sadness of the text with her cover version of the Wham! -The number " Last Christmas " when her voice floats lonely through the room to restrained piano and spherical organ sounds. She also had something to say about the feelings she associates with the song: " 'Last Christmas', what a depressing song about being betrayed and knowing that you will be betrayed again. It's so strange that this song, when it came out by Wham !, was received as the happiest Christmas carol of all time. "It's just a shame that even their approach doesn't change much about the fact that you can no longer hear the piece because it's on the radio every year anyway is played up and down until vomiting.
The reinterpretation of Jane Siberry's " Calling All Angels " afterwards compensates for this, which slowly builds up with acoustic guitar and melancholic piano, only so that towards the middle the vocals move in clear, ethereal spheres. Towards the end, the drums tighten the dynamics a bit, so the track ends in a heartbreaking finale. This dynamic ensures that cheesy moments are the absolute exception rather than the rule in the rest of the songs. Only the bells and the contemplative background choirs in the Bakken piece " Mary's Child " shouldn't have been.
But when the Scandinavian in " Angels Never Sleep " conjures up wistful memories of her childhood, carried by sweeping steel guitar and beautiful piano sounds, then you can ignore such small blemishes. Here every single note sits, just like in the new setting of Christina Rossetti's Christian poem " In The Bleak Midwinter ", the bakken to gentle whisk, atmospheric strings and accompanying piano sounds, which briefly attract powerfully, from their vulnerable and intimate side shows. The cover of the most famous Christmas carol in the world, " Silent Night ", finally forms a beautiful conclusion with weightless country-style tones and her heavenly voice, which soars to dramatic heights here and there, which sounds as warming as a fireplace. In any case, "Winter Nights" cannot be described as typically Scandinavian at all, as Rebekka Bakken's preference for wistful American sounds shines through in the arrangements. Vocally, the Scandinavian presents herself at the height of her ability, i.e. as variable and adaptable as possible. Review by Toni Hennig https://www.laut.de/Rebekka-Bakken/Alben/Winter-Nights-115323
Winter Nights
